NORWALK, Conn., July 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The only thing hotter than the weather is the savings on Express Deals(sm), priceline.com's (Nasdaq: PCLN) new family-friendly hotel booking option for guests who need specific amenities, like a pool or certain bed type, along with that famous priceline.com discount. Today, priceline.com announced its first-ever Express Deals sale, offering top-quality hotels at discounts of up to 50% off published prices. This limited-time sale runs through July 16th.

Express Deals is the speedy new way to a great deal from thousands of hotels around the globe without having to bid. Customers view a page that includes amenities (pool, gym, on-site restaurant, etc.), star level (including luxurious 4- and 5-star properties and resorts), neighborhood, guest satisfaction scores on a 1-10 scale, and a special sale price that's been discounted up to 50%. In many cases, customers can choose their bedding type (1 king, 2 doubles, etc.). After booking at the discounted price, the name of the specific hotel is revealed. Express Deals is covered by priceline.com's Big Deal Guarantee. If a customer books an Express Deals hotel reservation and finds a better price any time up until the day before check-in, priceline.com will match that price and give the customer $25.*

Priceline.com customers who prefer a particular hotel, or enjoy the thrill of negotiating also can use priceline.com's two other hotel booking options: Retail Hotels and Name Your Own Price® hotels. Priceline.com's retail hotel service features over 165,000 published-price hotels located all over the globe and backed by priceline.com's Best Price Guarantee. This option is perfect for travelers who are joining up with business associates at a specific hotel, or have a favorite place to stay. Hotel descriptions include amenities, photos, maps, plus review and satisfaction scores from customers who have stayed at the hotel. Thousands of hotels are on sale every day, with special rates and juicy freebies like free breakfast, and free Internet. Many offer free cancellations and a "pay when you stay" option that allows priceline.com customers to pay for their reservations at checkout rather than at booking. And here's how priceline.com's Best Price Guarantee works: Any customer who finds a better online price within 24 hours can contact priceline.com to receive a refund for 100% of the difference.

And Name Your Own Price®, the king of savings, offers negotiators a way to score their own hotel deals at savings up to 60% off published prices. Tens of thousands of hotels around the world participate in priceline.com's popular Name Your Own Price® service. Travelers pick their city, dates, star level and neighborhood. Name Your Own Price® guarantees the amenities guests will receive with their hotel. After a guest makes a bid, priceline.com tries to match it with a hotel room for that price. If a room is available, it's booked immediately at the guest's desired price. Priceline.com is the only online hotel reservation service to offer a Name Your Own Price® option for hotels. Customers who use priceline.com's Name Your Own Price® hotel service for their reservations are also covered by priceline.com's Big Deal Guarantee.

All of priceline.com's hotel booking options are delivered over a website that was ranked as the best hotel reservations site on the Internet in terms of reliability. Industry analyst Keynote Systems recently put major hotel reservation websites through their paces for speed, response time consistency, site availability, and more. Priceline.com's hotel website came in first with a perfect reliability score.

Mobile-equipped travelers can book their hotel rooms using priceline.com's Hotel Negotiator app for iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Android. [include footnote and list trademark rights of ipad etc] Hotel Negotiator offers an additional booking service called Tonight-Only Deals®, where specific named hotels are made available to travelers for check-in that night at savings of up to 35% off published rates.

iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch and iTunes are trademarks of Apple, Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. Android is a registered trademark of Google, Inc.

About The Priceline Group
The Priceline Group (Nasdaq: PCLN) is a leader in global online hotel reservations, with over 235,000 participating hotels worldwide. The Group is composed of four primary brands – Booking.com, priceline.com, Agoda.com and Rentalcars.com – and several ancillary brands. The Priceline Group provides online travel services in over 175 countries in Europe, North America, South America, the Asia-Pacific region, the Middle East and Africa.

Booking.com is the number one online hotel reservation service in the world, offering over 205,000 hotels (as of May 9, 2012), and is available in 41 languages. More recent hotel counts are available on the Booking.com website.

Priceline.com gives leisure travelers multiple ways to save on their airline tickets, hotel rooms, rental cars, vacation packages and cruises. In addition to getting compelling published prices, travelers can take advantage of priceline.com's famous Name Your Own Price® service, which can deliver the lowest prices available. Agoda.com is an Asia-based online hotel reservation service that is available in 37 languages. Rentalcars.com is a multinational car hire service, offering its reservation services in over 4,000 locations. Customer support is provided in 38 languages.